What I am about to say may come as a surprise to many, but as I sit here playing Steem Monsters (daily quest y'all! everyday!) and see the sort of sad posts displayed in my feed, I want to share a few thoughts.
Death Begets Life
Maybe it's the fact that my mind has been heavily immersed in meditation (which is founded in the nature of impermanence) since the beginning of the new year or that I recently lost one of my beloved pets, our black cat Wix, to a coyote, or the fact that we are ever close to the cycles of life and death on the homestead,
but I see what is unfolding on Steem as very positive.
Foremost let me make the distinction that what I find positive are not the facts that @jesta lays out so well in this post. In fact, we are well beyond needing to reckon with Steemit Inc for the poor leadership, wayward and ultimately destructive (for what is not actively growing is dying) influence (even if said influence is inaction, most of the time).
Much of what should have been revealed has not been brought fully into the light until now and that is unfortunate, though I do not believe we are at an irreconciable juncture. As @exyle says constantly and wrote again today, there is so much growth here and so much positive action taking place.
So I sit with these two seemingly disparate posts, one saying that Steem may be a lost cause and the other continuing the rally cry and I think that they go wonderfully hand in hand, each complementing and stemming from the other.
I believe in taking a good hard look at what one is working with, understanding the pitfalls and the positives and moving on from there.
What I cannot abide is the way that we, as the Steem community, have largely been kept in the dark. The private Slack conversations. The promises that have no (kept) timeline that we find out slowly, painfully are not going to be fulfilled. The not quite transparent actions of those in stalwart, longstanding leadership positions.
It turns out @berniesanders has been right all along. About 4 months ago I started to watch him, see the things he repeated time and time again and I began to see he was right.
But you know what's odd and very cool? He is still here and he's been here all along the way and recently even he has put some of his voting heft behind @llfarms' new curation project @themadcurator. I believe actions speak louder than words and if we are, as a community, at a period when some are throwing in the towel because they believe there isn't much worth salvaging here or that the large ninja mined stake and threat that @ned cashing out poses makes the space hopeless, actions such as bernie's and exyle's do in fact speak quite loudly.
Periods of Reckoning
Just like with relationships, periods of reckoning, which can happen for a number of reasons, take place in communities as well. Illusions are stripped away and we get an opportunity to see things as they are. I personally see these as times of great opportunity, though they may be absolutely difficult as well. When is a death of something easy?
Perhaps the idealism motivating many to take part in a 'decentralized community' acted like scales over our eyes and we couldn't see what the actual state of things was. A reckoning such as the one we are currently involved in is a positive sign of growth. It shows us that many are fed up with the current state of things and even will take drastic measures to shift them.
In such a time of evolution, with the blockchain as our foundation, I only see that as a positive thing.
If something isn't working, why not reveal it & work with the meat of what is and allow something else to rise in its place?
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.ozarkmountainjewel.com/2019/01/20/steems-reckoning-a-positive-outlook/